Our favorite photos of Staff Sergeant Logan Ireland

It’s a Saturday night and I’m in Rochester, NY initiating correspondence with our Fall 2015 cover model, Logan Ireland. The only way I can get to him and take photos of him for the cover is to make a 22 hour drive from Rochester, to Altus Air Force base in Oklahoma by Monday. And I do.

Logan Ireland and his fiancee Laila teamed up with Fiona Dawson, who needs a better introduction at another time, to film a video about the couple and their struggles in the US Military.

‘Transgender, at War and in Love” aired on nytimes.com on June 4th 2015. Within the first 30 seconds of the video, Logan had made 96% of all viewers crack a smile, and humanized his entire experience with one single word – fuck. Since then the short film has been nominated to receive an Emmy.

After 22 hours of open highway, straight shots down boring mid-west roads and more than a few stops at a Sonic (we don’t have those in Rochester)… I arrive in the heat of Oklahoma and on my first ever military base.

Logan was incredibly easy to talk to and has a really great sense of humor. While adjusting my shutter speeds and setting up my camera equipment I captured some photos that others would classify as “less than attractive” but Logan and I both thought they were hilarious. Mid-talking faces… Captures just before he yawned or sneezed… funny faces. I joked with him that I was going to make a compilation of these photos and post them all together titled “10 photos that prove Logan Ireland is the sexiest man alive”.

With that thought… Logan asked if I wanted to see his BCGs, or “birth control goggles” and this article was ultimately inevitable. Thanks for “not taking yourself too seriously” and being such a fun guy Logan!

Jason Robert Ballard is the founder and editor in chief of FTM Magazine. He has been immersed in the trans masculine community since 2007 and transitioning medically/surgically for eight years. He identifies as a straight transgender ally and is married.